Why use Twitter Bootstrap for mobile website development?

Bootstrap stands as one of the most popular open source front-end frameworks on the Web. Since its official release in 2011, it has undergone several changes, and it’s now one of the most stable and responsive frameworks available.

It’s loved by web developers of all levels, as it gives them the capability to build a functional, attractive website design within minutes. A novice developer with just some basic knowledge of HTML and little CSS can get started with Bootstrap.

Bootstrap provides a solid foundation for any website, irrespective of project size. It contains Normalize.css, which helps level out browser differences for various page elements. Bootstrap also provides great typography. Even basic HTML form elements like tick boxes, radio buttons, select options, etc., have been restyled to give them a modern look.

Today’s websites should be modern, sleek, responsive, and mobile first. Bootstrap helps us to achieve these goals with minimum fuss.

Why use Bootstrap for mobile website development?

Powerful Grid System

Bootstrap has one of the best responsive, mobile first grid systems available. It’s easy to use and flexible. It helps in scaling a single website design from the smallest mobile device to high definition displays, logically dividing the screen into 12 columns, so that you can decide just how much screen real estate each element of your design should take up.

Rapid Development

Bootstrap comes complete with many reusable CSS and JavaScript components that can help to achieve the functionality needed in almost any kind of website. You just have to use the bootstrap HTML markup along with the JavaScript and CSS to get them working in your website. The components are responsive (mobile-friendly) out the box, which is another reason to start using them.

What components are available?

Glyphicons

Dropdowns

Button groups

Button dropdowns

Input groups

Navigation menus

Breadcrumbs

Pagination

Labels

Badges

Thumbnails

Progress bars

List group

Alerts

Browser Compatibility

Bootstrap is compatible with all modern browsers and Internet Explorer versions 8 and up. If Bootstrap’s instructions are followed properly, you can create a website design that works in all these browsers. Plugins like HTML5Shiv and Respond.js come as part of Bootstrap’s default template. These help in porting HTML5 elements into older non-HTML5 browsers.

Customization

Bootstrap offers many ways to customize its default design. You can override all of its CSS and default JavaScript behaviour. Bootstrap is even more interesting if you are a Less or Sass developer, as it includes Less and Sass customization options. These options let you smoothly create a new template using Bootstrap.

Open Source

Bootstrap is an open source project, hosted on Github. It is released under the MIT license. This is one of the biggest reasons that I use Bootstrap. My clients won’t have to deal with purchasing and licensing issues, and Bootstrap’s license gives me the freedom to completely change and experiment with it.

Ben Lacey is the Managing Director of Lacey Tech Solutions. He is passionate about everything to do with websites from design and development through to search optimisation and hosting. He started the company blog as a platform to help educate current and prospective customers about the ever changing website development industry.

What are your thoughts?

We hope you found our article useful and look forward to answering your questions.